Cry Me a River - there has been very little time for painting in the past few weeks. Plans have been made, remade, abandoned. Ideas are backing up. Losing fire. Projects have flown by like exotic birds - too high to reach, but close enough to wonder at. No one is going to stop the world for me and make sure I have time to do what I need to do - so - cry me a flaming river - I must do this myself.The tinsel and sparkle of the festive season can seem tarnished and fake, a huge money machine that is out of control. And yet: we took time one night to look for the Geminids meteors and were rewarded with the silent needle of a shooting star falling to earth, we took time to see the Niki de Saint-Phalle exhibition at GOMA in Glasgow, another short piece of my writing was published in A Handful of Stones Blogzine, and I now have my trading partner for January 2014 - the Irish band - Redroom, with whom I look forward to swapping some work. ALL tiny sparks amidst the chaos.This week's picture is of 'Grande Tete', a sculpture by French artist Niki de Saint-Phalle, whose work I first saw in Paris in the Stravinsky Fountain - by the Centre Pompidou. GOMA in Glasgow have an exhibition of her work on until the 16th February, 2014 - really worth a visit. We see the 18 year old Niki as a model on the cover on Life magazine in 1949, before she began her creating work - she had another life before her art career. 'Grande Tete' shows the visible and the hidden self - one half - bright, love, life, tears; the other black steel frame with insects and dinosaurs. I very much enjoyed seeing these pieces with their bright colour, larger than life size and layers of meaning - the gallery space gives them room to breathe and be. Niki de Saint-Phalle died in 1982 at 71, her death was tragically caused by lung disease related to using polyester in the making of her work. Hat Status: intermittent furry hat wearing.Painting Status: best not ask.Writing Status: does my blog count?Reading Status: a tower of lovely books is developing.F. E. Clark, 16th December, 2013.